Banished Pt. 16

I studied her for a moment, but as Cameron grasped onto my rod and began to position it at the girl's opening, I looked down just as I slipped inside, and the girl let out a little gasp, before easing herself down on me, with Cameron's assistance.

Bianca watched with awe, and Alina took a deep breath in, then nodded.

"It is well, my lady" she said, and Cameron smiled, as she placed her hands on the girl's hips, and pressed herself close to her from behind.

Then I let out an appreciative moan, as the two women began to move, Cameron guiding her young apprentice, and her tight, virgin tunnel wrapping pleasurably around my staff.

"I think you take your duties as first wife a little too seriously sometimes," I joked, and she smiled mischievously at me.

"That's just the kind of God-queen that I aim be," she declared proudly.

Moans were escaping from Alina's lips every time she bottomed out on top of me, and she quickly took Cameron's hands into hers, squeezing them tightly as the new pleasurable sensations coursed through her, and Cameron steadied the girl, guiding her to maintain a steady rhythm as she rode me.

"What do you think?" Cameron asked, directing the question at Bianca, and as I turned to study her, I noted that her eyes were transfixed on the place where my part linked my body to Alina's.

Alina let out a squeal, and Bianca studied her, an almost hypnotic look in her eyes.

"This is... different," she said finally, and Cameron shot me a look that said, 'thank me later' before blowing me a kiss, and I let out a moan, as the tightness wrapped around my shaft was quickly bringing me closer to an orgasmic release.

"Quicker, honey," Cameron said, urging Alina on, but even as the girl nodded, I could see that the pleasurable feelings had all but overwhelmed her, and as her moaning intensified, I reached for Bianca's hand, and she took it, giving me a squeeze just as I began to cum, grunting a little as I did, and placing a hand on Alina's hip just over Cameron's.

Cameron guided her wonderfully through my orgasm, slowing the riding down but maintaining a steady rhythm, but as I filled her womb with my seed, I could feel her insides clamping down on me as she orgasmed as well, and as she began to shudder, Cameron wrapped her arms around the girl, comforting her, and helping her off of me.

I barely understood what was going on anymore, as my vision was fading, but I did vaguely catch the door closing as two figures slipped away, and Bianca's warmth beside me, as she took my hand, and stroked my cheek, sending me off to a deep dreamless sleep.

***

Joanna paced back and forth in her apartment, holding the phone in her hand and willing it to ring.

But the call she expected simply never came.

How is this possible? She thought, through gritted teeth.

How is this fucking possible???

Her mind went back to the page that she'd now torn up and tossed into a bin, and to the piece of intel it supposedly delivered.

Child of-

She suppressed a shudder, afraid to even finish the thought.

There was no way, right?

Lawrence had to be fucking with her. I mean, it added up; disgruntled employee, trying to get revenge on the company that jilted him...

Except he was right.

If Nathan really was who that piece of paper said he was, then her very life might be in danger.

She shuddered as she let the thought sink in; then, the phone rang.

"About fucking time," she began, but-

"If you ever have another communication with Lawrence, this partnership will terminate. Immediately."

-that solitary sentence was all she got, before the call ended, with a click.

<Unknown number> flashed across the screen, and she threw the phone onto the bed.

Then maybe I don't need this partnership, she thought, as she picked up her coat, and stormed out of the room, grabbing her keys and purse as she made her way out of her apartment building and to her car.

***

I woke up with my head in Bianca's lap, and to my surprise, a scowling face looking down at me.

"Astrid?" I asked, groaning a little, and the girl frowned.

"Nathan. There is problem," she began, and I sat up reluctantly, stretching as I did, and shooting Bianca a quick smile.

"I know. The portents are a threat to Kobalt life, but we're working on it," I began, but she quickly shook her head.

"This is not the concern. I had vision yesterday," she said, and I studied her.

"What was it?" I asked, and she sighed.

"The sight was irrelevant; the matter is a cloud which blinds me to the sight in your presence," she explained, and I frowned.

"What does it mean?"

She frowned.

"It means a destiny is being shaped; and you, perhaps, lie at the center of it."

I shook my head.

"Is that necessarily a bad thing?" I asked, and she shrugged.

"Such instance is without reference to one such as myself; but I worry. There are many destinies joined to your thread; that of my people, that of this forest, even that of my own."

I moved off of the bed, and began to put on my armor, some of which had apparently been stripped away while I slept, and as Bianca moved to the window, she called out to me.

"I think something's going on outside," she said, and as I moved to join her, I spotted a Kobalt runner who seemed to be wounded, talking to Gisela and Cameron, whose body language revealed that the news was not good.

"Let's go," I offered, and Astrid nodded, following us down the stairs and outside.

"Egon?" Astrid called, as soon as she saw the man, and he shot her a relieved but desperate look as he turned to her.

"Astrid. Our people are sieged," he began. "I made the run here with haste. We require assistance."

"What's the situation?" I asked.

"Rosengarten is completely overrun," Cameron explained. "He made it out of the cluster, but only just..."

I eyed his injuries, and nodded.

"How many spiders are there?" I asked.

"Spiders?"

"Achtbeinig ones," Gisela explained, and he nodded.

"My knowing is uncertain, but as many as thirty," he answered.

"Just spiders? Were there any that looked like us?" I asked, and he shook his head.

"No, but there was a different one; it spins a thread that pulls Kobalt into trees above. This creature eclipses all legend," the man said, shaking a bit, and I nodded.

"Send him down for treatment," I said, and Astrid bowed, leaving with the man, and I turned to Cameron as Casey moved to join us.

"What are you thinking?" Cameron asked.

I thought about it before answering.

"Thirty spiders plus a herald should be easy enough to take out, but the problem is the portents," I said, and Casey nodded in agreement.

"We definitely shouldn't send a team that can't fight one," Casey said.

"We need to help them, though," I replied, and Casey frowned.

"I don't see how we can without putting ourselves in danger. The only fighters who can reliably take on portents are you, Francesca and Raul. Any combination of those three puts the other side at risk," she said, and I smirked a little, gesturing to Bianca as she struck a heroic pose.

"I don't know if you haven't been watchin'; but I kick ass now!" Bianca declared, and Lucia sneaked up behind us.

"Lucia kicks ass too!" the girl added, standing somewhat proudly beside Bianca, and I smiled at the two, but Casey massaged her temples a bit.

"Okay, so you two can take on a portent; but she can't use anything but a dagger, and how is that gonna help you when there's thirty plus spiders swarming you before you can get into a good position," Casey argued, and I smirked again, turning as Blair sauntered in on cue.

"Introducing, Le wildcard," I said.

"Hiya, I'm Blair; I'm sharp, good lookin', and handy with an axe. Nice to meetcha," she declared, and she did a little curtsey, which only seemed to annoy Casey further.

"A newbie? You wanna take a newbie into this kind of combat?"

"She's fought against an otherworlder and killed several spiders already. I'd say she's battle tested enough, and this way we preserve our good position here," I argued.

Casey furrowed her brow, but to my surprise, she turned to Cameron, who nodded.

"I'm okay with it," Cameron said, and Casey relented.

"Fine; but this is a hit and run mission, okay? Clear the area, evacuate the Kobalt to Palancar, then get your asses back here," she said, and I nodded.

"I'll go organize her armor," Cameron said, as Casey turned to Gisela.

"Are there any Kobalt here who're familiar with Rosengarten?" she asked, and the girl nodded, as she waved over one of the Kobalt hunters.

She spoke to the man for a bit, then frowned.

"Apologies, Nathan. None speak the auslander's tongue."

"Can you stick around to translate?" I asked, and she nodded, relaying my questions to the man, then translating his responses to us.

Through her, we were able to find out that Rosengarten was a smaller cluster of about five trees, controlled predominantly by two branches.

The fastest way to evacuate the cluster would be to communicate with the leaders of these branches, and get them to direct their people out of the cluster, and to flee due east to Palancar across the wild bushes between the two lands.

While we made hurried preparations to leave, however, Astrid returned to my side with a determined look.

"Nathan. I will accompany you," she declared, and I frowned.

"You won't be able to keep up," I replied, and she shook her head.

"My endurance surpasses that of this goddess," she said, eyeing Blair with some derision. "With armor, I can endure your haste."

I considered the argument.

"Why do you want to come?" I asked.

"The people will hesitate to leave their homes, as to do so rightfully abdicates the grove to your possession," she explained, and I nodded.

"I see. Very well," I said, gesturing to Cameron, and as she came over, I relayed the development to her, and she nodded.

"Will speed one be enough, though?" she asked.

"What do we have to spare?"

"The low-grade T-one sets," she answered, and I frowned. "But we could probably swap out one of the speed pieces from Molly's set; or Jeannie's maybe."

"Yeah, let's do that," I replied. "They need the protection right now more than the speed anyway."

Bianca looked over as Casey and one of the companions fitted Blair with one of the newly acquired T-two sets, and frowned.

"It took me forever to earn that," she whined, looking down at her own armor, and I ruffled her hair affectionately.

"This is purely out of necessity," I reminded her, but she pouted nonetheless.

"Then you have to make it up to me," she said, but I shook my head at her.

"You got a free blowjob in today," I reminded her, but as I suddenly noted Lucia's eyes on me, I bit my tongue, and as Bianca followed my gaze, she smirked at me.

"Good job," she teased.

"Good-job?" Lucia asked, and Cameron eyed me, as she glanced at the child.

"Who did a good job?" Cameron asked, and Lucia shrugged.

"Byaka?"

Bianca was grinning, and Cameron shook her head at me.

"If she asks why Nate is giving everyone 'special hugs', you're explaining that one on your own," she warned, and I rubbed the back of my head, as I chuckled nervously.

Blair came over to join us, and with everything set, we got ready to depart.

Cameron however, held onto Lucia as the girl moved to Bianca's side.

"Oh no, you don't," she said, and Lucia shot me a pleading look.

"Lucia is going!" she declared, and I thought about it.

"I actually think I wanna take her along," I said, and Cameron stared at me.

"Are you serious? She's not ready for that," she countered, and I shook my head.

"She'll never be if I never give her the chance," I replied. "Plus, she compliments Bianca's style pretty well."

"We do make a good team," Bianca conceded, and Lucia wiggled out of Cameron's arms, and to her surprise, leapt up into Bianca's.

Cameron stared at her for a moment, looking slightly heartbroken, before nodding.

"Jeez. I guess this is what all that 'they grow up so fast' noise is about, huh? If you don't bring her back, that's the last 'good job' you'll ever do," Cameron warned, and Bianca grinned nervously.

Cameron gave me a quick kiss, and a 'be safe' warning as I checked to make sure that everyone was ready, then taking Lucia from Bianca, and letting her get into her usual stance on my shoulder, I gave Cameron one more wave, and we headed off.

"She can't actually stop us from doing anything, can she?" Bianca whispered, and I snickered at her.

"Maybe, but I still wouldn't cross her," I teased, and she pouted a little, as we picked up the pace and ran along the road.

"Is this fine?" I called, and Astrid nodded.

To my surprise, the girl seemed quite competent at running, and my mind momentarily went back to Eradne, and I wondered if all was well on her front.

They were, after all, within a possible danger zone...

Though with her to lead them, and some of the most skilled hunters at their disposal, maybe they would be fine, I thought.

It really was a short way east before the road turned northward, but in the darkness of the night, I couldn't make out much of anything ahead of us.

We continued on for what felt like an hour, when a chill ran up my spine, and Astrid suddenly called out to us as she came to a stop.

She eyed me dubiously, as I studied her.

"Do you want to hunt it?" I asked, assuming that she'd sensed the monster as well, and she tilted her head at me.

"The grove lies here," she said, gesturing to where the road broke off to what seemed to me to be nothing but another patch of trees to our left, but as I studied the scene, I caught some subtle signs of wear, and a small pathway leading through the brush.

"Fuck me," I said. "I might have missed that completely," I added, and Blair smirked at me.

"Now I'm wondering how you even led us through that whole shebang," she said, and I chuckled a little.

"I had help," I said, tapping my wrist and bringing up the basic map module. "What can I say? This all looks like woods."

Astrid made that trademark sucking sound through her teeth, and I bit my lip nervously.

"I know- I have much to learn," I said, and she eyed me, then nodded.

"The blame is shared; had I known, I would have recommended instruction," she said, and I nodded. "What is the manner of approach?"

I stooped down, then gathered everyone around.

"Unless I'm mistaken, the nearest tree will be through the path and to the left," I began, looking to Astrid for confirmation, and she nodded. "We'll make a bee-line for that tree, then try to hold that position while we figure out how to proceed. Getting caught out in the open might be bad, so pay close attention to my signals."

"Got it," Blair quickly said, and Bianca scowled.

"Hey~. That's my line," she whined, and I quickly offered her a consolatory pat.

"Get into focus," I said, and she nodded as everyone else drew their weapons. "Blair, stay at my side; we'll strike in alternating sweeps, and Bianca and Lucia will cover our flanks. You just stick close," I said, turning to Astrid, and she nodded.

"I am without concern," she said. "My survival is set in stone."

I eyed her, shaking off a slight feeling of discomfort at her faith in her prophecies, but nodded nonetheless.

"Let's go," I said.

We moved quickly but quietly along the path.

"Shouldn't we have come at them from one of the sides?" Blair asked in a low whisper, and I shook my head.

"There's a lot of things that crunch underfoot on the forest floor. The path is swept often, and it should be clear; just keep your eyes open for-"

"SKREEEEE!"

The monster was crouched low in the shadows of a nearby bush, and Bianca silenced the shrieking thing with a quick jab, but as the cry echoed through the silence of the still night air, a series of shrieking replies came echoing from all around us.

"Move!" I yelled, and we darted forward, but as we made it into the clearing, a wave of monsters quickly descended on us.

I sliced through two of the beasts, then stepped back as Blair moved in to dispatch of two more, and I turned and swept through two more to the left of that, before stabbing through another that had come up from the path behind us.

Bianca stabbed another that had crept up behind me, and I kept moving in a circular pattern, sweeping through two more spiders now to the right of the group, before stabbing through a third just as it leapt through the air overhead, and as I threw the monster down, Lucia this time covered my side as another creeper moved in at me from my blind spot.

I shot her a thankful nod, as I turned left, and worked my halberd in sweeping arcs, sending a spray of some kind of green blood-like liquid as limbs went flying, and I breathed a sigh of relief, as Blair seemed to be holding her own, moving out and sweeping through the spiders, then retreating as I moved past her in alternate sweeping strikes.

It was going splendidly despite the massive hoard that seemed to be sweeping in on us, until Bianca stabbed into a spider too close to its wickedly clamp-like mouth, and as the rows of razor claws almost closed in on her hand on the dagger hilt, she yelped, and the dagger went flying.

"Fuck," she cursed, shooting me a panicked look, and I quickly moved to clear through the three or four spiders that moved in, swarming around the spot.

But the moment of distraction left an opening, and as Blair bumped into my back, thrown off of her rhythm by my change in attack pattern, she stumbled, and several creatures came flying through the air towards us, leaping over their dangerously clamoring spider-comrades.

I stabbed through one, and swept the legs out under another, before catching a crown of fangs on my armguard, and Lucia killed the creature just as Astrid thrust her bone-tipped spear, knocking another leaping monster back.

Blair quickly recovered, sweeping through the monsters that were encroaching on our space, and as I covered her from the side, Lucia darted forward, sliding under the legs of a spider and stabbing it in the underbelly, and tossing it aside as she swept up Bianca's dagger and tossed it to her.

But as Bianca shot her a thankful nod, Lucia stopped to stick her tongue out at her teasingly, and in the momentary lapse in concentration, I spotted the thread descending fast from the dark canopy above.

"Lucia!"

She caught my cry a second too late, and as she looked up, then tried to roll out of the way; she was just a second too late, and even as I darted to her, she went flying into canopy above.

No.

No, no, NO!

I momentarily thought about hurling my halberd desperately into the canopy above, but Astrid quickly pulled me back to the line, and more by instinct than anything else, I continued to slice and fight my way through the chaotic battlefield.

Then I heard it; a loud, shrieking sound, and as a spider corpse, much larger than the others fell out of the canopy above, I let out a relieved sigh.

"Lucia!" I called out.

The shrieking about us seemed to subside, as the spiders had turned and were now fleeing in earnest.

"Lucia is fine!" a call came from above, and I crouched down, taking a deep breath.

"Can you get down?" I called, and after a moment, she responded.

"Coming!" she replied, and just then, I spotted her tiny form catapulting down from the canopy above, but she curled up into a ball and tensed up just as she got within ten feet of the ground, and the momentary panic I felt eased as she rebounded in mid-air, and I caught sight of the thread attached to her body.

She hung there for a bit, swinging subtly back and forth, until I gave her a little nod, and she turned, slicing through the thread with her dagger, and I moved forward and caught her, then held her close.